


By Any Other Name

by Dannyblue



Series: Family Matters [2]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Family, Gen, Humor, POV Original Character, Pre-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-17
Updated: 2014-08-17
Packaged: 2018-02-13 13:59:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2153283
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dannyblue/pseuds/Dannyblue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Her cousin Dean helped her out before, so Beth figures he can help her out again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	By Any Other Name

"Elizabeth Marie Winchester!"

Beth flinched. Her mom never pulled out her full name unless she was really mad. Like "You're grounded forever and can forget about your allowance," mad. And, if she was _that_ mad, it could only mean one thing.

She knew.

Closing her math book, Beth looked up in time to see her mother march into the dining room. And Kathleen Winchester did _not_ look happy.

"That was Mrs. Stevenson on the phone," Kathleen began.

Beth flinched again. "Oh."

"Yes, 'Oh'. Apparently, someone gave her son Richie a new nickname today. What was it again?" She looked up at the ceiling and made a show of searching her memory. "Oh yes, now I remember." Then she glared at her only child. "Little Dick!"

Beth groaned as a blush warmed her face. At the time, she'd been too angry to care what she was saying. But, now, she couldn't believe those actual words had come out of her mouth. And in front of people!

"And that's not all." Kathleen folded her arms, which meant she really meant business. "Apparently, the person who gave Richie this new nickname said they'd seen, with their own eyes, that it fit him to a T."

Beth gulped as her embarrassment grew. She _had_ said that, hadn't she?

"So tell me, _Elizabeth_. When exactly did you see enough of Richie Stevenson to know he has a little anything?"

Fear and embarrassment forgotten for the moment, Beth's face scrunched up in disgust. "Geez, Mom! Ewwww!"

"What?" Kathleen threw up her hands. "You told the whole school…"

"Not the _whole_ school. Just the cafeteria."

"…that you've seen Richie Stevenson naked. So, if you said you've seen him naked, why shouldn't I think you meant you saw him naked?"

"Because _ewww_!" Moving beyond disgust to revulsion, Beth jumped up from the table. "Stop saying that! I have never--I repeat, _never_ \--seen Richie Stevenson naked. I just said that to support the whole 'Little Dick' thing." And as the fateful words slipped past her lips, Beth flinched again. Yes, that was exactly the right thing to say to the woman who had the power to keep her penniless for the rest of her teen-aged life.

Sighing, Kathleen closed her eyes, and brought one hand up to pinch the bridge of her nose. "Just tell me why. _Why_ in the world did you call Richie Stevenson Little...What you called him?!"

"Because he was being a total jerk!" As Beth remembered what happened in the cafeteria that afternoon, she got mad all over again. "You know Megan Halderson, right? Well she came to school wearing this brace thing that she has to wear for, like, ever. A whole year! And you can tell it bothers her and she's all embarrassed by it and stuff. And here's Richie being an _idiot_ , cracking jokes and being even more stupid than usual. He just wouldn't stop. He almost made her cry, Mom!"

Kathleen stared at her for a long moment. And some of her own anger seemed to drain away. "So you were sticking up for your friend?"

Beth shrugged. "I guess."

"Because Richie was making fun of her?"

Another shrug. "Yeah."

"And that's why you called him Little Dick?"

Beth cringed. "Geez, Mom! Could you stop saying that? I know what I said, okay? So _you_ don't have to keep saying it every five seconds."

And Kathleen actually cracked a little smile at that. So maybe Beth _wasn't_ going to be flat broke for the rest of her formative years.

As always, Kathleen seemed to read her mind. "You're still in trouble young lady," she promised. But her smile kept getting wider. "And don't think I don't mean it."

"Right. I'm still in trouble." Beth nodded and tried not to smirk. "Got it."

* * *

"Little Dick, huh?" Dean Winchester snickered. Then chuckled. Then the sound of his loud, boisterous laughter boomed through the headset. "Oh, man. That's awesome!"

Beth fought the urge to hang up the phone. "It's not awesome, Dean. It got me grounded."

"Well, yeah. But at least you didn't get a black eye this time."

True, there _was_ that. But, insensitive jerk or not, Richie wasn't about the physical violence. If anything, he'd start making fun of _her_ instead of Megan. Which was fine because Beth could take it. When you regularly tripped, fell, and walked into things in public, you got used to snickers and ridicule.

"So," Dean said. "Is standing up for the little guy going to become a habit with you? Should I start calling you the Bully Buster?"

"Please don't," Beth groaned. And then groaned again. Because if there was any way to guarantee he'd call her that again, _that_ was it.

"Ah, come on, squirt. Most kids would kill for a cool nickname like that." Then he laughed some more.

Beth rolled her eyes. Why did she call him again? Something about him being all understanding, and not making a big deal about what she'd said, which would help her feel less embarrassed about the whole thing?

Yeah, right.

"Little Dick," Dean chuckled under his breath. He said it fondly, like most people would say their kid got straight A's or something.

Beth shook her head. "You are so weird. And, like, eight."

"And, man, the look on Aunt Kathleen's face when she found out! Too bad I wasn't there to see it." But, apparently, imagining it was enough to send him into a fit of guffaws.

But Beth wasn't annoyed this time. Because he'd just reminded her of the thing she hadn't told him about yet.

"Speaking of Mom," she shouted over the laughter. "She'll probably be calling you sometime later tonight."

And the guffaws choked off into silence.

"What's Aunt Kathleen calling _me_ for?" Dean asked suspiciously.

Since he couldn't see her over the phone, Beth didn't try to hide her smirk. "Well, she went down the list of people we know who use...that word a lot. And, basically, you're it."

"Now wait a minute!" Now Dean sounded worried. Because, while her cousin wasn't afraid of a lot of things, Kathleen Winchester was a special kind of scary. "She can't put this on me. I didn't..."

"Gotta go, Dean. I still have homework. 'Bye."

Ignoring the demands from the phone for her _not_ to hang up, she hung up.

"Huh. What do ya know." A wicked grin on her face, Beth set the cordless back on its stand. "Calling Dean _did_ make me feel better."


End file.
